| Genre: | Animation |
| Director: | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
| Starring: | Joel Grey George Gobel Tammy Grimes John McGiver |
| Narrated: | George Gobel (main story) Joel Grey (poem sequence) |
| Theme Music Composer: | Maury Laws |
| Country: | United States Japan |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
| Cinematography: | Toru Hara Tsuguyuki Kubo |
| Runtime: | 25 minutes |
| Company: | Rankin/Bass Productions Topcraft |
| Network: | CBS |
Twas the Night Before Christmas is a 1974 animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions[1] that features Clement Clarke Moore's famous 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, the opening line of which is the source of the title of this animated special.[2] The special first originally aired on CBS on December 8, 1974,[3] and the network aired it annually until 1994, when The Family Channel (now Freeform) took over its syndication rights. AMC took over syndication rights for the special in 2018.[4]
Although the opening credits mention "told and sung by Joel Grey", it is really narrated by George Gobel, as there is more emphasis on the point of view of Father Mouse, with Moore's poem read by Grey as a secondary plot.
Santa Claus is offended by an anonymous letter printed in a Junctionville, USA newspaper claiming that he does not exist. In response, Santa returns all of the townspeople's letters unopened. Upon reading the letter, Father Mouse, an assistant to the clockmaker Joshua Trundle, suspects that his son Albert is the author, and Albert confirms this. To make amends with Santa, Father Mouse and the Trundle Family to build a clock tower that will play a special song to convince Santa not to bypass Junctionville on Christmas Eve.
Unfortunately, Albert sneaks into the clock and inadvertently causes it to malfunction in front of the whole town. The Mayor, embarrassed by the clock's failure, denies Joshua access for repairs. After confessing his mistake, Albert decides to fix the clock himself and manages to get it to play its song within earshot of Santa, prompting Santa to visit the town after all.
There are three musical numbers in the program:
"Even a Miracle Needs a Hand" later appeared on South Park in the Season 4 episode "A Very Crappy Christmas". Similar to its use in the original special, the song is sung by Kyle to Stan and Kenny during a seemingly hopeless situation. At one point, Joshua Trundle's face is even superimposed over Kyle's face.
Like many of Rankin/Bass' other animated TV specials, this special was animated in Japan by the animation studio Topcraft, which was rolled into Studio Ghibli in 1985.
The special was originally first issued on VHS by ABC Video Enterprises and Golden Book Video in 1987. After Lorimar was purchased by Time Warner, Warner Home Video/Warner Bros. Family Entertainment (owners of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass library), re-released the special on VHS in 1990, and on DVD in 2004, paired with the 1976 special Frosty's Winter Wonderland. A Blu-ray was released on October 5, 2011.[5] It is also available on iTunes for purchase.